PLEASE NOTE: GameCentral is currently acting as a scoop-seeking missile at E3 2017, so there’ll be one inbox per day this week. Keep your letters coming though, as Adam will be sifting through the heap once he’s stopped rolling around like a Morph Ball.

E3 splurge

Looking at the trailers from last night, I’m feeling a little but underwhelmed by Beyond Good & Evil 2 – I loved the first one, which was charming and brilliantly designed, and I’ve been looking forward to the sequel, but… frankly, there was too much swearing. I know I can sometimes turn the air blue, but that did seem very ‘we’re trying extremely hard to be gritty’.

I was unsure as to how a VR third person platformer could work, but Moss looks like it has answered that question. I would assume you’re not in control of the character at all, but are in control of the Super Mario Galaxy-esque pointer.

Shadow of the Colossus remake? Oh, yes please! Though it would make it the fourth time I’ve bought that game (if you count PlayStation Plus).

God of War 4 looks both quite pretty and fun. I hope having Christopher Judge voice him will make him more likeable. I also think I prefer Norse mythology to Greek, so that is hopefully going to be a bonus.

I haven’t even started the original Ni No Kuni yet, so can’t feel excited for the second.

Wolfenstein 2: I have thoroughly enjoyed The New Order and The Old Blood, which I got when the price dropped. I might pay full price for this one.

The Spider-Man game actually looks quite fun. As you said, like the Arkham games but with some more acrobatic touches.

That Ubisoft space toys-to-life one looks interesting, if only for the fact it looks like the controller itself is the toy reader. I imagine that will be very expensive!

Joseph

The Last Gen Of Us

Hi GC,

I would like to say excellent coverage of E3. Especially those older ones of us that can’t stay up all night anymore!

I watched the Microsoft reveal of the new Xbox and like many I was impressed but at the same time disappointed. 4K is becoming more mainstream but still not a fast enough rate to justify this mid generation upgrade. I think for most out there it is going to cost over £1000 when you factor in the new TV to get the full benefits from this console. I think it’s time to build a gaming PC! I have no idea where to start but my daughter has been pestering me to try for months since she discovered coding.

Anyway enough of that, the last generation is where it’s at and in particular a PlayStation 3 game (OK it’s on PlayStation 4 now) that got a remaster. Yes I’m talking the Last of Us. What a game! I wrote a feature a few weeks back about how I had overcome my controller problems and was now enjoying a back catalogue of PlayStation exclusives and someone suggested this in the comments. I had a mooch around and could only find it for up around £30 which for a game that old I thought a little expensive. Behold PlayStation store and Wallop! £15. I’ll have some of that, and boy was it worth it. I’m not too far in and already I can see why it came so highly recommended. Sorry I don’t remember who it was but a huge thank you and got any more I’ve missed?

A final thought, the line-up of games from E3, for all of us gamers, on all consoles it is looking pretty epic. What’s your favourite? A new Metro game is my favourite announcement at the moment I think.

Dirtystopout

SC: We’re glad The Last Of Us has earned a new fan. If you’re searching out other PlayStation 3 exclusives, give Heavy Rain a try if you like story-driven titles, God Of War III ahead of the new one and maybe overlooked gem Puppeteer.

E3 wise we’re still reeling from Super Mario Odyssey, but also very excited for Spider-Man, Beyond Good & Evil 2 and A Way Out.

Hard sell

Regarding the letter someone sent the other day about him going almost completely ‘digital’, this seems to be a topic that always comes back. I thought i would speak for the other side, those who like to buy their games on hard copy format, be it disk etc. I do feel that the games company’s seem to love calling downloading ‘digital’ a buzzword much like the increasingly comical ‘Super duper digital deluxe mega editions’ given to downloads to make downloading sound somehow superior, cool and the way of the future, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. All games are digital, they all get installed into the same source and digital by definition, the digital code merely downloaded from different sources, but there are some differences in physicals favour.

Now I must confess it does perplex me why anyone would choose to download their games instead of buying it in a physical hard copy format, simply because i struggle to see the benefits in doing so with so many obvious benefits of having a physical copy. I see the writer mentioned being lazy, which is actually the one plus i can think of in downloading, not having to physically get up to change the game (is that really so bad lol?) and i can see why some might like that, but you stand to lose so much for something so trivial.

I buy my games on physical format because firstly I’m a collector. I like to have a physical collection and to know that I can always play them down the line as I am not reliant on the online service I got them from and a licence, or DRM for continued access. I know I can play it with no conditions or caveats in the years to come, and you can’t put a price on that feeling of long term permanent ownership. Yes there is backwards compatibility, but that may not carry over forever and it’s only for selected titles.

With my physical games I can also trade, sell, swap or give my games away and there is no complications when I take them round a friends, I simply put the disk in and off you go. Some games are also worth a great deal of money over time, and knowing you may have a potential gem is enticing, while a download has zero value and you are essentially stuck with a valueless purchase, more so when the consoles online services inevitably shut down. You can also get games early when you order physical games from online stockists, which is nice, and you can also shop around from different sources for the best price and sell and trade them at the best price. You can’t beat the freedom it offers.

With all that said, don’t get me wrong, if someone wants to download their games, that’s completely up to them and I have no problem with that, as long as i have the option to do and own my games my way also., and things as they are, having that choice is great, you really can’t beat choice ultimately, however you choose to buy your games.

Spartas Edge

SC: We’d always opt for hard copies given the choice, but there’s nothing quite like the spontaneous purchase while slumped with a fishbowl of Wotsits. Bring on Sunday.

Monstrous letdown

Must admit I’m a bit disappointed Monster Hunter World isn’t on Switch. While I’ll likely get it on PC I like the series as portable games, especially as I usually sink 150-200 hours per game.

Rumour has it this is simply a spin-off and Monster Hunter 5 will be Switch exclusive, has GC heard anything?

Overall it felt like a good E3 all around with something for everyone to be excited about.

Dardar

SC:We haven’t heard anything this side but once GC returns on the scoop camel – hopefully there’ll be an update.

E3 splurge returns

Now that the “BIG 3” have done their E3 thing, and before I come across as hypocritical I certainly didn’t wait up all night to watch presentations by the most boring people in gaming.

So far there are only two winners and that is Ubisoft with Skull and Bones (who doesn’t want a pirate game made by those that made Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag?) and Nintendo with… take your pick!

While I didn’t expect Microsoft to work miracles I found their showing both predictable and disappointing with nothing that stood out apart from a new 500 quid, 1.5 console that’s aimed at who exactly? Few who have an Xbox One (despite having a 4K TV, I’ll stick with my 1TB Forza edition) are going to get one and who’s going to trade in a PlayStatio 4 or Pro with it’s ecosystem for one?

I also found Sony sort of disappointing as while I didn’t expect any Final Fantasy 7 or Shenmue revelations, I was ecstatic about the “Shadow of the Colossus” remake and if anyone hasn’t played the original then you will get to play a PlayStation 2 classic, hopefully with the other two mentioned above before robots have taken over the world! I do think Sony are still focusing their immediate attention on a competitor that isn’t actually a current competitor, hopefully they won’t ignore the fact that Nintendo have just served up some absolute gems. A home console Pokemon, Super Mario Odyssey, Rocket League and handheld Skyrim.

I had no intention of buying a Switch as I have a Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Pro until two words and one number hit the screen, Metroid Prime 4!

Perhaps people don’t want super powerful consoles, perhaps they just want to play great games.
Despite their lots of hits and even more misses, it’s the company from Kyoto that keeps our love of gaming alive.

mr.saveloy

Rayman Legend!

Managed to get my third world record (first across PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) on a Rayman Legends online challenge. Although I’d rate my gaming prowess as only slightly above average at best, I still really enjoy twitch based game play. Games that have a responsive, nuanced move set that takes time to master like Halo multiplayer or say Hotline Miami. It’s quite hard though to find ones that really click enough to put in the hours.

I might have to buy a second hand Xbox One and get back into Halo as its multiplayer is still my favourite example of this type of game play. Others I’ve tried recently just haven’t stayed the course like For Honor. I’d been interested to hear what GC’s readers current favourite are, Rocket League looks good but I might of missed the boat on that one.

Simundo Jones

SC:No-one’s ever missed the boat on Rocket League. Also, congrats!

Metroid's back

Hi GC,

I think Nintendo probably had the best E3 of anyone (though that’s not exactly high praise given how low the bar was this year). I think the biggest surprise for me was the Metroid 2 remake.

I was instantly filled with dread when I heard MercurySteam – the developers of three really quite terrible Castlevania games – were involved, but the playthrough on Nintendo Treehouse actually looked somewhat promising. Eagerly awaiting your hands-on preview on this.

Lord Darkstorm

Inbox also-rans

Bargain alert: Just picked up Horizon Zero Dawn in store at Tesco for £26.

Rolph

If GC could only play games made by just ONE developer for the rest of your days, who would it be?

I’ll take the popular vote from all of you. Go

Razzledazzle

SC: Resisting our urge to simply cop-out and say Nintendo, we’ll go for Platinum. Mostly amazing with the odd stinker to keep us on our toes.

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